What does a strategic partnership with Seoul mean for Manila? 

Before heading to a joint press conference at the President’s Hall in Malacañang, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. gave South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol a quick peek into history that’s both his and the Philippines’.

Marcos explained to Yoon that he had lived in Malacañan itself, “during [his] childhood years.”

“My room was next door,” added the Philippine President, seconds before their arrival was announced to a room of government secretaries, ministers, their aides, and the media.

Both Marcos and Yoon watched over the exchange of several memoranda and loan agreements, culminated by the announcement that South Korea would be the Philippines’ fourth strategic partner.

It’s a status that, thus far, only Japan, Vietnam, and Australia enjoy.

The agreements signed before the two Presidents were nothing to be scoffed at. They cover coast guard cooperation, economic cooperation, cooperation on raw material supply chains, infrastructure developments in Laguna and the Visayas, and a tourism agreement.

Read more: https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/what-strategic-partnership-means-south-korea/